As marijuana becomes more mainstream, TV producers struggle with how to depict pot smoking while adhering to strict broadcast standards. WSJ’s John Jurgensen reports. Photo: Getty

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

I appreciate all your help you promise to be up there the line ... the peanuts outweighed you gave them pots know I run a legitimate business operator is good and that the brother of data that is on ... the and Victor ... Bates by God the writers feel better ... and I'm in remission ... from being blamed the ... hell out of the web from a January episode of ABC's Modern Family ... including a little humor into a topic the TV industry as a whole is grappling with right now ... how to trade marijuana use on t he ... adds that more states legalize that around here with the story is doubly SJ entertainer reporter John Jurgensen John thank so much for being with that ... so of course ... the Standard genre of movie and ... didn't lead the way musicians have always seem to embrace the drug culture ... the TV industry has had quite an uneasy relationship with marijuana has a that ... yes that really goes back to the the idea broadcast standards you know these are public airwaves for the broadcast network's news and so happy very careful about what the error ... aam and also ... they'd also will build a lead they advertisers there's a long history of that ... aam and right now as realizations to cloud the issue ... though intended sorry ... um ... there happened to decide about how their show this on TV it's a reflection of what's happening in real life I felt pretty lots of times you just and right now ... slightly more than half of Americans actually ... approve of the de criminalization marijuana backtracked ... the app from a Gallup poll in October the fifty one percent as it has been hovering around halfway support for the last two years or so now ... I guess I how what that marijuana is friends and showing it ... or not Chan is the case may be ... in a TV series that seventy six ... the long running a very popular sitcom that was on Fox other that they had a very inventive way of ... portraying not use ... to have this kind of circle technique where they would show all the characters in a circle sitting there and ... so the camera cuts in smoke ... he never actually saw anyone smoking legal but they are very ... varied they're doing that sort of ... of broadcasting what was happening I get pretty creative about it um so things are changing of course on cable ... you allow those rules don't apply because is not the public airwaves at us we have a silly brought city for example which is a really ... really popular well regarded show on comedy Central where the smoking pot is just part of the fabric of the lives of these characters ... don't often play for a laugh almost always a good punchline ... ah but it's not the sort of stereotype of the storm the you ... pretty use to seeing over decades of ... on the screen ... no one in a world of reality TV and it seems to me up pot ... dine at the ... same tailor made for reality TV app ... yet mean that's were a lot of the action scenes we have the right now if you think about for the wild west aspect of what's happening in Colorado and Washington ... here with these retail chains popping up in the woods the on a walk in them and by we ... you know a lot of TV producers and networks to see this as a really right place for ... a TV character stability the franchise around the cities is start with a lock up but ... it's the sort of gray area of the lot where his goalie legal the federal status ... so they're looking for these character to build shows around ... doubt the same time a lot of these ... young businesses are trying to come across very seriously due to businesses and so that doesn't always make for like the most in ten are entertaining T entertaining TV right now I chilled and not a guaranteed interest ... in this area there are a lot of the Apple Dravid you know absolutely ... it's really quickly though the ... pushback from parents groups with legitimate concerns about pot is becoming so paddling portrayed on TV the kids might get the message well everyone staring at sites are beginning to get ... yes certainly I mean of with all the sudden the world is telling you that ... the law states tell you that marijuana is legal in ok for a people smoking is popping up ... in differ ways in the upper trails on TV ... a lot of anti drug addict is especially ... that the advocates of for cab terror prevention for use in teens and young people ... they really see this is sort of the tequila factory as a negative impact of the way that that should see this is ... no normalizing the fact that they get off its on TV ... more people are doing is kind of seemed normal and made it so that I should check out early success so you know it's a very slippery slope that's not the sort of preachy aspect of that they used to be out but you know it's a it's a gray area to live TV preserve grappling oh absolutely I don think you so much for that